Rockslide Repair Work Begins

The Tennessee Department of Transportation began work Tuesday on a project to stabilize the slope, remove debris and repair damage caused by a recent rockslide on U.S. 441 (State Route 71) in Sevier County.  The rockslide occurred on April 6, 2011 on U.S. 441 in Gatlinburg near State Route 73.  
On April 15 the emergency slide repair project was awarded to Charles Blalock and Sons, Inc. of Sevierville for a total amount of $1,143,845.  The pre-construction meeting was held Monday and, due to the amount of work to be performed, work began the next day.
Crews installed traffic control and concrete barricades on U.S. 441 that reduces the traffic to only one lane in each direction.  Traffic will remain in this configuration while crews work to install a retaining wall, backfill the retaining wall, place graded solid rock on the slope above the wall, and install a catchment fence at the top of the wall.  
To safely accomplish this work, the contractor must reduce traffic to one lane of traffic in each direction.  One existing northbound lane will be shifted onto an existing southbound lane with the opposing traffic separated by traffic control devices.  This will allow the contractor to utilize both existing northbound lanes during the construction.  
No lane closures will be allowed from 12:01 a.m. on May 27  to 12:01 a.m. on May 31 in anticipation of increased Memorial Day traffic.  
After Memorial Day weekend, if the work on the project has not been completed, the contractor will be allowed to re-install the traffic control plan as previously described and allowed to work from 12:01 a.m. Mondays through 6:00 a.m. Fridays.  During this time, the contractor will maintain a continuous (24 hour/day), productive operation until the project is completed.  The project does include incentives and disincentives to encourage the early completion of the work in this area, and all work is required to be completed by June 17, 2011.
 

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